 Slap Shot (1977) Every hockey fan has this movie memorized; every hockey detractor sees it as a perfect reflection of hockey's lowbrow brutishness. They're both right, but both factions should step back and see it for what it is: a pretty sweet and winning sports comedy with more than a few deep bellylaughs. Paul Newman is great as an over-the-hill minor league hockey player/coach. His team, the Charleston Chiefs, are in a town where the town's main employer,"the plant," is closing. The fans don't have the money to spend to attend a bad team's games. So management decides it's gonna take cost-cutting measures … the main one being bringing in the Hanson Brothers, the biggest goons in all of hockey, the Hanson Brothers. All hell breaks loose, of course. The whole team joins in the "gooning" up of the games, except the pretty-boy goal scorer. The clownish brothers provide many hysterical moments, with endlessly quotable lines. Add in tensions between players and wives, between players and management, and players and opposing players, and you have a fracas that is hard to resist, no matter how much you want to hold a contray view of these populist comedies that everyone seems to think are so "classic." Unlike Caddyshack (another "classic comedy" whose appeal I've never understood), Slap Shot has a lot of real heart, especially in Newman's typically gruff-but-lovable portrayal. The film may be too raw for viewers easily offended by locker-room humor, but it should be clear enough from Slap Shot's built-in reputation who it's aiming for: hockey fans and sympathizers. Show me a guy in a hockey rink that doesn't quote this movie, and I'll show you someone who was just knocked out with one of my bone-crushing checks (usually on the way to or from the concession stand). The most perverse way to watch Slap Shot is to catch it on TBS or whatever, because the censoring overdubs only exacerbate the relentless stream of vulgarities and profanity.
Review by Mo' Rice |